Japan rules !Everytime hubby goes to Japan, he brings girly magazines for me – like Marie-Claire – Elle etc. …Funny and afterwards nice to use the paper with the Japanese texts (glued) on shoe-boxes…they look so much funkier …

I was member of LEON and some others Japanese fashion for few years when I was living in Japan. These magazines are so efficient. You can learn a lot about what’s new in men fashion world or how to set things together, where is good place to buy your favorite items and how much cost each set with complete price details and brands.

What unfortunate names, ha ha!! Oh my – but I do looove Japanese magazines. I especially appreciate the wonderful catalog-style layout. So much more efficient than the American magazine format with all the models and overstyling etc., isn’t it? Glad to hear you’re a contributer to at least one!

I am pretty sure the name “Oily Boy” comes from a pun on the Japanese word 老いる (oiru) which means “to get old.” The magazine is formatted to look almost exactly like the original Popeye from the mid-’70s, so the idea is bringing those initial readers back with a bit of nostalgia. This is a one-off mook (magazine + book) but if it does well, they will no doubt make it seasonal or something. Popeye was the first “catalog magazine” in Japan and set the pattern that everyone follows today.

Most of the older men’s magazines have never seen huge sales compared to the younger men’s magazines even though older men are the only consumer segment with money in Japan these days. That being said, Men’s EX is one of the few with an uptick in circulation — maybe thanks to The Sartorialist!

Japanese fashion magazines really have no analog in the United States, because American magazines have these pesky things called “articles” where they write about or interview famous people. Japanese magazines are pure product guides and style textbooks. And of course, most of it is advertorial, which is hated in the U.S. but is the reasons why Japanese consumers understand brands so well. Magazines give a chance to see full collections on models in almost every issue.

Most importantly, Japanese magazines really reflect the spirit of Japanese fashion: it’s about propriety, doing things perfectly. In the new AERA Style Magazine, focused towards men, one of the first lessons on how to be stylish reads: “The most important thing is not having good taste, but following the rules.” That says it all about the cultural difference.

I read that the title “Oily Boy” comes from the nick name of Jiro Shirasu(白州次郎), who negotiated for the GHQ after Japan defeated in WW2. He was called “Oily boy” because he was a car maniac. He’s still popular in Japan because of his cool styles and personality.

Thanks for mentioning kinokuniya! its one of my favorite bookstores, and besides the wealth of magazines, has an amazing sewing/patternmaking/crafts section with some incredibly creative and unique books.

chirooo is right – “Oily Boy” was the nickname of the de facto diplomat and businessman/millionaire Jiro Shirasu (1902-1985) that he earned while studying at Cambridge University in the mid-1920s. It seems he spent most of his time there tinkering with cars and getting oil all over himself and driving around Europe rather than being in the classroom. Maybe it’s a British term/slang that was used during the early twentieth century.

Instead of his postwar diplomatic work, Shirasu, with his movie star good looks (he was also exceptionally tall for a Japanese of his generation) is now known as sort of an original Japanese Sartorialist for his love for Henry Poole three-piece suits and as being one of the first Japanese to wear a pair of jeans. In his later years, he also appeared as a model for Issey Miyake.

Although the text is in Japanese, the following link is worth checking out for the photos of Shirasu:

thank you all for such a mind broadening dialogue to remind us that style and fashion signifiers are everywhere in the world besides the west…it is all about Shirasu and Japanese mens magazines (which thankfully our sizable diverse Asian population here in Toronto makes possible to access the wealth of Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong and Singaporean versions, etc…)at this moment for me until the dialogue points somewhere else on our globe…what Tyler Brule understands and models so well with Monocle…thanks Sart for facilitating…

Japanese mags are crazy! They are so detailed and immaculate. I love most of the magazines you mentioned though I see Popeye more often than Oily Boy.

One thing that I really really can’t stand is that for some reason, most of the suit trousers in the styling, 99% appears to be about 1 inch too short (not in the trendy way either).

And being very Japanese, all the stylish Japanese men copy these looks down to the T, so I see streets full of these too short trousers (I live in Japan at the moment).

I go on the street, see their very stylish hair, watches, coats and then I have to ignore the trouser hem and skip to the very beautiful shoes. If only the hems are an inch longer!! (Apologies for my frustration but the balance, however I look at it, is off….)

I am sure Japanese who travels often or live abroad probably do not have this problem so you may not notice this???

I would love to hear opinions. Is it just me who sees this? Can someone share my view on this?

I heartily second another comment to go to Japan and shoot there! I think it would be so fun and interesting. Whenever I go to Japan, I always feel like I see “trends” pop up there years before I see them emerge in the States.

I have been living in Japan for almost 5 years and all my old friends ask why I don’t come back to NYC–well, I love NYC but life in Japan, especially in the country is so amazing. And these magazine are really great but the style on the street is equally amazing. Everyday, everywhere is FULL FRONTAL FASHION and the people are great, too.

I used to live in Japan, so I’m glad to see Americans embracing Japanes fashion magazines! They’re more like fashion catalogs rather than magazines, just pages and pages of fashion! For anyone who doesn’t live near a Japanese book store, you can order Japanese magazines online at http://www.fujisan.com. They have Leon and Men’s Ex. Uomo and Men’s Club are also two other great men’s fashion magazines. Men in their teens and twenties might like Men’s Non-No and Smart.

Men’s Non-no is another one worth checking out. They do a fairly extensive Street Snap feature a few times a year which usually encompasses a few different cities across the globe. Not just the cities you’d expect either, Glasgow and Brussels have been featured in previous years!

Hey, great post. I am happy to see that the men’s fashion media is flourishing somewhere with DNR and Men’s Vogue falling here. I am curious about something you mentioned about Mens Ex and Leon focusing on Italian style. Do any of the magazines focus on British style? I have heard that classic American style is big in Japan as well.

Japan rocks!I live in Seoul, but travel to Japan often for business and I try to book an extra day to shop at the “select shops” like Beams, United Arrows, etc…

The Japanese have magazines devoted to everything in the world!

The only American equivalent of a Japanese fashion magazine that comes even remotely close is probably InStyle…but that’s for ladies…

Japanese fashion magazines don’t have expensive photo shoots shot in exotic locations that seems obligatory for American fashion magazines.They are an efficient quasi text book/manual/catalog.

But regarding style…Japanese seem to have fastidiously studied classic Italian style and have gotten very good at “carrying it off” with ease.

Ofcourse there are still salary men with suits that hang off their shoulders and pants length that are just too long…but over all I think the most stylish people in the world are in Italy and Japan…best haircute in the world would have to be Japan though…and these magazines plus well educated shop staff sure must have played an important role in making them look so good.

Yas, Thank you so much for providing the make and design of the boots on the cover of Leon, but I am unable to find the exact pair anywhere! If you know where to buy this exact pair, please share! Thanks!-NG